


like time is stopping

by softeldritch



Series: are you mine [4]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Snowed In, Winnipeg Jets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 04:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18542626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softeldritch/pseuds/softeldritch
Summary: “Y-yeah,” Nikolaj manages. “I think the heat went out?” Maybe it’s a little bit pathetic to ask for it so directly, but fuck it. He meets Patrik’s eyes again, ducking as close as he can without actually putting in the effort of moving, and asks, “hold me?”





	like time is stopping

**Author's Note:**

> i really just needed some fluff after..........y’know. so i drew upon my many years of experience spending weekends at a cottage without central heating, as well as being a born and raised winnipegger. cold sucks, y’all.
> 
> this is literally just shameless fluff, no plot to be seen, because i think we could all use it.
> 
> (title from _finding you_ by _kesha_ )

Nikolaj wakes up to a dark bedroom and a shiver wracking his body so violently it’s actually painful. His entire face is freezing and he can’t feel his fingers because apparently at some point last night he pushed the covers down to his waist, and couldn’t pull them back up again. The bare skin of his upper body is entirely covered in goosebumps, his shoulders hunched over and curled in as he tries to retain body heat, and it actually kind if hurts how cold he is. Everything feels weak, like he can’t move properly. Definitely not a good sign.

The room is dark, because the curtains are mostly drawn shut, but Nikolaj’s eyes are adapting to it. He sees Patrik huddled under the blankets, curled on his side like Nikolaj is. Asleep-Patrik is apparently smarter than Asleep-Nikolaj, since he’s still fully covered by their comforter. He looks cozy and warm and Nikolaj’s stuck between hating him for not being in the same predicament and wanting to snuggle up and soak up his body heat.

Fuck. Okay. Nikolaj can’t stay still forever, even if just moving his arms from where they’re curled up near his chest seems daunting. First he needs to get himself back under the covers properly, so he doesn’t actually get hypothermia or whatever. 

When he reaches down to grab at the covers, his fingers won’t work. He tries a few times, but his hand won’t close all the way, so he’s just pawing at the comforter. Another shiver passes violently through him. This time it definitely hurts.

“P-Patty,” he whines, jaw trembling, teeth actually chattering together. Patrik doesn’t give any indication that he’s even awake, let alone that he heard Nikolaj. Fuck him for being a heavy sleeper. “Patrik,” Nikolaj tries again, shuffling a little closer until he realizes that even the  _ sheets _ are cold, and touching them is rapidly leeching the heat from his side. “Patty, wake up, you fucker.”

Nothing. Patrik doesn’t even breathe a little different or wrinkle his nose or burrow deeper under the covers. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Luckily Nikolaj’s legs are more or less warm, so it doesn’t take too much to bring a leg up and prod Patrik in the thigh with his toes. “Patty,” he says, trying a little louder. Patrik just winces and shuffles a little, sleepy and soft and clearly not entirely awake. “Wake  _ up _ ,” Nikolaj spits, and kicks Patrik right above the knee.

“ _ Mean _ , Fly,” Patrik whines, without opening his eyes. “We don’t have a game until next week, why are you—” He opens his eyes, bleary and disgruntled, and the complaining stops as soon he sees Nikolaj.

Nikolaj tries to make himself seem extra pitiful—it’s not hard, all curled up and shivering—and glares at the dumb look on Patrik’s face. “I’m c-cold,” he says, trying to relax the tightness of his shoulders as he shivers. “I can’t grab the blanket, Patty, help me?”

“Stupid,” Patrik says, but his voice is soft and he unwraps himself from the blankets to reach over and tug the comforter up over Nikolaj’s shoulders. Warmth immediately bleeds into Nikolaj’s frigid skin and he sighs, tucking his nose down, curling his legs up. Patrik’s hand lands on his shoulder, almost  _ too _ hot in contrast. “Fuck, Nik, you’re freezing.” 

“Y-yeah,” Nikolaj manages. “I think the heat went out?” Maybe it’s a little bit pathetic to ask for it so directly, but fuck it. He meets Patrik’s eyes again, ducking as close as he can without actually putting in the effort of moving, and asks, “hold me?”

Patrik doesn’t even smirk at him for it, so Nikolaj must look legitimately pitiful. Instead Patrik crowds closer, wrapping his arm around Nikolaj’s back and pulling him in close. “You’re fucking cold,” he complains, but he doesn’t stop Nikolaj from tucking his nose into his neck and burrowing even closer. Patrik’s  _ warm _ , and Nikolaj shudders into him and tries to ignore the way his spine won’t stop shaking.

“Thanks.” Patrik’s all warm and rumpled from being cocooned under the covers and he smells good, like—well, like Patrik, which is stupid, but Nikolaj breathes him in anyway. His hands are still frigid and stiff so he shoves them up against Patrik’s bare chest.

“Hey, hey,” Patrik says, “are those your hands?”

“I’m fucking cold,” Nikolaj mumbles. “I can’t feel my fingers, Patty, give me a break here.”

Patrik huffs, clearly frustrated. “No, just—” He shifts and wiggles a bit, and Nikolaj’s almost afraid he’s gonna get pushed away, but then Patrik gets his arm up between them and closes his hand around both of Nikolaj’s. “There, is that better?” His hand is as warm as the rest of him—warmer, maybe, because Patrik always has warm hands.

It’s not actually better, because it’s the kind of warmth that makes the bones of his fingers ache after being so cold, but that pain will go away eventually. So Nikolaj just murmurs, “yeah,” and kisses Patrik’s collarbone as thanks.

Silence settles between them, broken up only by the rustle of blankets when Nikolaj can’t suppress a shiver and the wheezing, pained little noises that keep slipping through his teeth. He’s starting to warm up, though, like it’s bleeding into him slowly, filling him up from everywhere Patrik’s touching him. It’s nice, just being held like this. It brings up a bunch of dumb, sappy romantic feelings, and if Nikolaj could actually feel his hands he’d grab Patrik’s left hand and press a kiss to his tattoo.

“Love you,” he says instead. Talking is easier than moving.

“Oh,” Patrik says, soft and surprised. “Love you too.”

“Shut up, I’m being grateful.”

Patrik huffs a laugh, drawing his arm tighter around Nikolaj’s back. “I didn’t say anything,” he says, nuzzling into Nikolaj’s hair, pressing a kiss to his ear. “But that was really cute, Fly.”

Nikolaj flushes, just a little. He doesn’t have the energy to pretend he’s not stupidly in love, though, so he snuggles in even closer, nudging a leg between Patrik’s so they’re touching from head to toe. The lingering cold’s finally starting to melt away, and Nikolaj’s so exhausted and achy just from the shivering that he kind of wants to fall back asleep again. He probably shouldn’t, because they should probably at least get some clothes on and figure out the heating, but. Patrik’s warm, and they can spare a few hours.

For a while he drifts, caught in the floaty space between awake and asleep. Patrik starts snoring softly, rumbling against him, and Nikolaj floats on that too.

Eventually it starts getting lighter outside, white peeking in through the crack in the curtains. Nikolaj buries his face in Patrik’s neck and tries to ignore it, because Patrik’s warm and asleep and Nikolaj wants to stay cocooned in here for the rest of the day, but the hazy clouds of half-sleep are already dissolving. That, and he’s getting fucking hungry.

“Patty,” he whines, pressing up against Patrik’s body, winding his arm around Patrik’s waist so he can get even closer. “Babe, wake up. Go get me food.”

Patrik’s fingers trail up Nikolaj’s spine, until his hand wraps around the back of Nikolaj’s neck and squeezes. “You do it.” His accent is thick with sleep and he sounds only half-awake, but he’s massaging the nape of Nikolaj’s neck like it’s second nature.

Nikolaj shudders and melts into the press of his fingers. “The heat isn’t on yet. One of us has to go out there and I’m not doing it.”

“Neither am I.”

The problem is that both of them are stubborn assholes, because there’s no such thing as a hockey player who  _ isn’t _ stubborn. “C’mon, it’s only for a second,” Nikolaj says, tucking his head down to give Patrik more room to dig his fingers in.

Patrik snorts. “Then you can do it.”

With a bit of wriggling, Nikolaj manages to push back so he can see Patrik properly. Patrik’s eyes are closed but he opens them after a second, staring at Nikolaj like he’s daring him to do something. “Rock, paper, scissors,” Nikolaj says, wrestling his arm up between them and closing it into a fist. “Loser has to go and get food. And clothes, so we’re not freezing next time we have to get up.”

Patrik’s eyes glint. “You’re on.”

Then Patrik wins, and Nikolaj regrets everything.

“Fuck,” he groans, butting his head against Patrik’s chin. “Patty, I can’t, it’s fucking cold.”

Patrik just laughs. “So? I won.”

Fine, if he’s gonna be an asshole. Nikolaj splays both his hands on Patrik’s chest and pushes back, angling his head so he’s looking up at Patrik through his lashes. “I was freezing earlier,” he murmurs, soft and a bit whiny. “I still haven’t warmed up yet, Patty, please?” If the guys could see the show he’s putting on right now they’d rip him apart, but Nikolaj’s not above whining and pouting to get what he wants. Not when Patrik makes it so easy.

Patrik’s brow furrows, and he scowls. “Fine.” Ha. Nikolaj burrows further under the covers, grinning at Patrik as he carefully climbs out of bed. “Fuck, it’s cold,” Patrik grumbles, heading for his dresser, fishing out some sweats and immediately slipping into them. “I should’ve made you get up.”

“You didn’t, though, so hurry up.”

Patrik tosses some clothes at his head, hard enough that it knocks Nikolaj’s head back onto the pillow, and when Nikolaj sees what they are he rolls his eyes. A pair of sweats and a hoodie that are definitely Patrik’s. Of course they’re Patrik’s clothes. But also, he’s not gonna complain about a warm set of layers, so he keeps his mouth shut and stuffs them under the blanket with him. It takes some manoeuvring to get them on without pulling back the covers; by the time he’s dressed, Patrik’s ventured out to presumably find something to eat in their kitchen.

Shit, they were gonna go grocery shopping today. There’s probably not gonna be much to eat.

Sure enough, when Patrik comes back, it’s with a handful of protein bars and a couple bottles of gatorade. “We don’t have anything good,” he says, coming around to his side of the bed and dropping it all on the pillow near Nikolaj’s head. “And the power’s off, so we can’t have something warm.” He’s careful climbing back into bed, like he’s trying not to let in too much cold air, and the second he’s under the covers he presses in close. “Nik, warm me up, I’m  _ cold _ .” His arm wraps around Nikolaj’s waist, and with a bit of tugging he’s on his back with Nikolaj half on top of him.

Nikolaj laughs, arranging himself so he’s draped over Patrik properly, their legs tangled together. “Thanks, babe.” Patrik’s hands drag up and down his back, relaxing him even more. “I’ll make it up to you later.” He tucks his face back into Patrik’s neck, breathing in the smell of his skin and letting his eyes drift shut.

One of Patrik’s hands drifts down to rest on his ass. “You can’t make it up to me now?”

“Seriously?”

The hand on his ass doesn’t move, but Patrik doesn’t try to start anything either, so it’s kinda nice. “So you don’t wanna fool around?”

Nikolaj snorts. “Not unless you’re cool with me falling asleep in the middle of things.”

For a second Patrik’s quiet, and Nikolaj thinks he’s dropped it. Then he squeezes a little, and says, “actually, that could be hot.”

If Nikolaj wasn’t so bone-deep exhausted his dick might have taken some interest, which is fucking worrying. As it is, a shiver runs up his spine, and he shakes his head to get rid of it. “Jesus, Patrik.” Maybe it shouldn’t surprise him anymore, how much weird shit Patrik likes, but—seriously?

Patrik makes some movement that might be a shrug. “Just saying.”

“You’re so fucking weird.” Nevermind that most stuff Patrik has come up with, Nikolaj’s been into—sometimes he has to draw the line  _ somewhere _ , because Patrik’s insufferable if he gets what he wants. Today is really just not the day to be considering the possibility of sleep sex, of all things. Nikolaj’s exhausted, and he’s hungry, and he really doesn’t have the brainpower. “And you gotta let me go, Patty, I can’t eat on top of you like this.”

“You probably could,” Patrik says, but he pushes Nikolaj back onto his side and rolls over with him, so they’re facing each other. Their legs are still tangled together, which is kind of nice. They tear through the protein bars mostly in silence, and it takes a bit of figuring out to drink the gatorade without spilling it everywhere  _ or _ sitting up completely, and then Nikolaj’s even more exhausted than before. He kind of just wants to fall asleep again, but they’re adults, they’re not supposed to stay in bed all day.

“Should we do something about the power?” he asks, reaching forward to wrap his arm around Patrik’s waist again. “Like, try and fix it?”

Patrik snorts. “How?”

Good point. “Do you think the hot water is working at least?” If they’re gonna be stuck with a cold apartment, Nikolaj could at least go for a long shower. 

“I dunno, I don’t know how water heaters work.”

Well, neither does Nikolaj, so that leaves him with no other ideas. “Well, what are we supposed to do now?” 

Patrik shrugs, shuffling closer to get his hand on the nape of Nikolaj’s neck again. “I dunno. You shot down my idea, so . . .” He smirks a little bit, rubbing his thumb up and down the column of Nikolaj’s throat, shifting his leg so it’s a little bit higher up between Nikolaj’s thighs. “Unless you changed your mind?”

Rolling his eyes, Nikolaj wiggles up a bit so Patrik’s thigh isn’t so close to his dick. “Down, big guy.” It’s not that he  _ doesn’t _ want to fool around with Patrik, he’s just that fucking tired. Maybe if he had some coffee in him, but the power’s out, so. 

“Then we could just stay in bed,” Patrik says, soft and low. “There’s nothing else to do. The blizzard outside is crazy, we couldn’t go anywhere anyway.”

Nikolaj hums, arching up against Patrik’s body, letting his eyes fall shut as Patrik massages the nape of his neck. “You just want easy access so you can wear me down and eventually get your dick wet,” he accuses. 

“Well, yeah.”

He’s pretty sure he’s supposed to put up more of an offended front, but Patrik’s warm, and he smells nice, and his fingers are digging at a knot of tension at the top of Nikolaj’s spine. So Nikolaj just settles in, soaking in the warmth of the covers. Patrik’s right. There’s nothing else to do—nothing else they really can do, if there’s a snowstorm. Might as well make the most of it and wait out the cold in bed with his boyfriend.

Or, wait.

“Babe?” Nikolaj asks, opening his eyes to see Patrik cracking his open. “Are we engaged?”

Patrik’s eyes drift shut, and he nuzzles into the pillow. “Obviously.”

Huh. Simple as that. “Okay,” Nikolaj says, squeezing his arm tighter around Patrik’s waist. “Good to know.” 

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is dedicated to the absolutely wonderful feeling of being cocooned in thick fluffy blankets when your bedroom is cold and there’s a snowstorm going on outside. it is also dedicated to the jets, whomst i love with my whole heart.
> 
> [tumblr](http://soft-eldritch.tumblr.com/) // [twitter](http://twitter.com/softeldritch)


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